The color is very dark amber-brown, the shade of dark brewed tea. 116.8 Proof / 58.4% is untenable (for me), 3 teaspoons of water added to a 1.25oz pour, down to approximately 40-43%. I've sadly recently proven that cask-strength whisky is a major migraine trigger for me, no matter how much water I drink alongside, one sip of this and I could almost HEAR my frontal lobes shriveling up... Nose: Omnipotent red wine, some maraschino cherry, dry grape skin, freshly sawn pine, malty grains, faint cocoa and a bit medicinal. Quite musty; ubiquitous and encumbering, increasing with water... not the kind of musty wood I usually relish, more of a mephitic moldering log... Palate: More drying red wine on arrival, then a rush of heavy oak, cherry preserves, some clove, ginger snaps and infinitesimal mint. Finish: Fairly hot and tart, more floral mint and inimitably drying (Like there's a desert in your mouth with no oasis in sight). Certifiably unfiltered in any way, leaves the glass filthy with an ashy film, just like Bookers Bourbon cask-strength releases. Salutations due, as is usual, to our idiosyncratic Pranay for sharing this shard of lost history! Dry Glass: yes, inimitably.